The People's Forum: A Reportback

In the wake of recent acts of police violence in Louisiana and
Minnesota, members of Mass Proletariat attended a meeting for the
planning of a left unity rally as part of the national upsurge in public
protests against police violence. At both the meeting, and at the
subsequent rally, our comrades pursued the two-line struggle, putting
forth the distinction between reformist politics which diffuse the correct
ideas of the masses and proletarian politics which concentrate the correct
ideas of the masses.

This intervention was in no way an effort to unite with organizers in
the their task of building a “big-tent” left-unity procession. Instead, we
promoted the need for a people’s forum to discuss the basis for an
organization capable of doing more than simply organizing protests that
react to the white supremacist violence of the police. We put forward the
idea that reformist politics don’t address the fundamental issues of
white supremacy and capitalism, and that there is a need to build a
people’s power organization capable of making concrete gains towards the
abolition of white supremacy and capitalism.

A forum was held on Saturday, July 16th with four contacts to discuss
our political orientation and possible steps forward. A key
question, posed to us by a contact in attendance, was how we were able to
convey our Maoist politics to contacts made during our regular tabling and fliering
in proletarian neighborhoods in Boston. We responded that Maoist
politics can be conveyed through the connection of particular struggles
to universal struggles. Through promoting the idea, which is already
present in the masses, that their particular struggles are part of a
larger system of oppression and exploitation. We have had success in
clarifying the need for political organization capable of coordinating
struggles beyond their particular locality. We also emphasized the need
for an organization based in the actual ideas and struggles of the
masses, rather than in a top-down hierarchical structure. In turn,
contacts expressed the importance of empowering the people through
discussions which promote the Maoist principle that their ideas are an
essential part of the basis for communist politics, for a politics that
squarely aims to destroy the basis for all forms of oppression. This empowerment
along with subsequent discussion will serve as the basis for building
proletarian power.

In retrospect, we realize that we should have explained the
mass-line – the principle of “from the masses, to the masses” – as the basis
for our politics and the structure of discussion and moderation. More
moderation within the meeting itself was needed to ensure the collective
discussion was moving forwards at all times.

As a conclusion to the meeting, attendees agreed that the people’s forum
would be a weekly event. Please contact us at MassProletariat@riseup.net
for more information about the people’s forum.